


There For You

by DenDragon14



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Brotherly Love, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Other, Panic Attacks, Photos, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Siblings, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 03:45:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18275105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenDragon14/pseuds/DenDragon14
Summary: Five's powers are depleted and he is unable to jump away from Hazel in Cha-cha in the department store. The cops show up just in time, but Five's PTSD sends him into a panic attack.Diego is there to bring him home since Eudora has shooed him away from the crime scene. Klaus has hitched a ride and tries to help Five through his panic attack as Diego drives. The trio (quartet, if Ben is included) end up at an 24 hour diner and try to help Five out.But instead Five ends falling asleep in public. And then Klaus and Diego are mistaken as a couple, and Five gets mistaken as their son.





	There For You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I'm back again with another one shot. Something a little more serious this time around. I am still dipping my toe into these waters for the fandom, but I do have a multi chapter in the making, so hopefully the first chapter will be posted soon. Anyways, please enjoy! And sorry for any mistakes!

He hated to admit that he had panicked when he hadn't been able to complete a spatial jump when he had grabbed Delores from the department store. At the time, he wasn't sure why, but now, as he sat behind a counter with Delores clutched to his chest, he assumed it had to do with the fact that he felt fucking exhausted, physically and mentally. Unable to summon up the strength to telelport out of the department store, Five cursed and clutched Delores tighter and tried again and again. But with each extra attempt only resulted in Five breaking out in a cold sweat.

The smell of smoke infiltrated his nostrils. 

_No_ , he thought,  _not now._ Of all the times to have a panic attack. God, sometimes he hated his brain. He embraced Dolores tighter as he fought to keep his breathing under control while the world around him started to burn. The air felt thick in his lungs and tasted of ash when he tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry as the Sahara.

"You're okay," Delores said calmly, "You're safe, Five." If only that were true. He'd risked his life to save Delores and now he was about to get shot up by these two masked psychos. He had never imagined himself dying in a clothing store with only Delores for comfort, which to most people, might be no comfort at all. 

Red and blue lights caught his attention and he heard his approaching assassins still as police cars started to pull up in front of the building.

He heard Hazel and Cha-cha curse and heard them scramble off in the opposite direction, away from the police, away from him. Five sighed, slightly relieved. He tried to relax, but panic gripped at him as the world before him morphed slowly to burning apocalyptic world he'd been trapped in for decades. He heard the faint sound of voices, of footsteps

Several pairs of legs passed by him as they started to mark any evidence that could be useful to their case. Someone had knelt down in front of him, a woman. He stared at her; Five could see her mouth moving, but whatever she said was muddled and slow, much too slow to understand. Falling ash collected in her dark hair. She and the other cops that milled about in the store seemed unaware of the fires that burned brightly in the back of the store.

Her attention was taken away from him as she seemed to catch something in her peripheral.   
"Hargreeves, put the bullet casing down! You know I can't use it if you touch it."

Five ignored her as he tried to take the reins and steer himself away from the increasing panic he felt inside his chest. The burning world around him was not real.  _It was not real._

* * *

"Diego, you can't-" Eudora began but was cut off as Diego pushed her aside gently to get a better look at the person hunched over on the floor she had just been talking to. After hearing the situation over the police scanner, Diego had headed over despite the fact that Patch had made it clear that he was not wanted on the scene back at Griddy's. He recognized the huddled up person immediately.

"Five?"  
  
"You know him?" Eudora asked. She had her hand wrapped around his arm, intending to drag him out of the building, but she slowly released her grip as she awaited an answer.  
  
"He's my brother." Diego went and stood over his brother, a confused and slightly concerned expression on his face. Five blinked several times as he attempted to clear the tears in his eyes. He stared up at Diego, clearly confused as to how he had gotten there. Diego knelt down in front of him but Five drew away as he reached out a hand in comfort.

"Hey, buddy," Diego said softly.  He took hold of one Five's hands. "Let's go home."  
  
"I can't just let him go, Diego."  
  
"Why not?" Diego demanded as he glanced up at Patch. "He didn't do anything besides steal a mannequin. He doesn't have a gun on him from what I can see. Whoever was shooting up the place has split, you should focus on finding them."   
  
"Why was he in the department store then," Detective Patch asked. Her voice was soft even though it had a demanding edge to it. She knelt down in front of Five and asked him why he'd been in the department store. Five pulled away from her and gave her a menacing glare. He pulled the mannequin closer to him and rested his chin on her smooth head. Detective Patch stared at him and then glanced to Diego, looking slightly confused and slightly disturbed. She pulled Diego aside and place her hands on her hips. She cleared her throat, her mouth opened although she hesitated in saying anything.  
  
"Is he...is he okay....mentally I mean?" she asked.  
  
"He's...been through a lot." Diego replied; what else could he tell her? Eudora nodded in understanding. She flipped her notepad shut and gave Diego a look of sympathy. Or perhaps it was pity, he wasn't too sure.  
  
"Well," she sighed. "I would still like to take a statement from him, if he can give one, come and see more tomorrow. He probably caught a glimpse of those that shot up the place. Right now, take the kid home. Make sure he gets some sleep. I'm only letting it go this time considering he wasn't one shooting up the place." Diego pulled Five to his feet. He kept a hand on the small of his brother's back as he shepherded Five and his mannequin friend out of the department store and toward his car.  
  
Diego nearly jumped out of his skin as Klaus' head popped up into view from the rear passenger seats. He glared at Klaus, lips pursed but didn't say anything as Klaus climbed his way into the front passenger seat as Diego opened the back door to allow Five and his mannequin in.  
  
"How goes it, my lovely brothers?" he asked. Diego glanced at him, unsure whether he was high or attempting to be cheerful, the two tended to cross over from time to time.  
  
"Oh, we're just peachy Klaus," Diego muttered. He all but slammed his car door shut as he started the engine and pushed the car into drive. "Can't you tell by our traumatized brother in the back seat?" Klaus glanced back at Five, and frowned, as his brow pulled together in slight concern.  
  
"What'd you do to the kid, Diego?" he asked, half jokingly. Diego glared at him.  
  
"What makes you think I did something?"

* * *

The world around him continued to fade in and out of focus. One moment he was there, the next it felt as though he was seeing and hearing everything as though he were under water. He heard everything just fine up until l he got into his brother's car, then it was as though someone had put noise cancelling headphones on. He saw Diego and Klaus conversing with one another, but it was as though they were on mute. His eyes turned their focus to stare out the windshield.  
It was snowing.  
  
No, his brain slowly realized, not snowing.  
  
There was ash falling from the sky again.  
As they continued to drive, the falling ash became heavier, almost to a point where Five felt as though he were in a snowstorm. The ash and smoke filled the air all around him, extinguishing the amount of oxygen that he had by half. He felt his lungs constrict as he struggled to take in another breath. His hand tightened around Delores' wrist, and hoped it would help ground himself to reality.  
  
He knew this wasn't real. It couldn't be real.  
  
He was back in present day; he'd just been surrounded by all the noise and sound that people made. And even in Diego's car there was the noise of the stereo, the sound of other cars passing by from the open window, and Klaus's voice as he ranted about god knows what. After being surrounded by the suffocating silence of the apocalypse, all the noise of the present day grated on his nerves. Now though, it was as though he had gone deaf, he couldn't hear a thing. He couldn't decide which was worse, the deafening silence or the deafening noise. He clapped his hands over his ears and sighed, slightly relieved when he heard the sound of blood rushing through his brain.  
  
He was fine.

* * *

Klaus was the first that noticed how quiet Five was. He glanced over his shoulder into the backseat and saw that Five was very much out to lunch in terms of where he was mentally. He looked a thousand miles away to Klaus, lost in a world that only he could see. His eyes were fixated on what seemed to be the space in between Diego and Klaus. His hands were clapped over his ears and Klaus could see the expression in his brother's eyes were frightened.  
  
"Do _something_ , Klaus," Ben exclaimed from beside the half mannequin, "Can't you see he's having a panic attack?" Klaus glanced at his ghostly brother and nodded and sighed; sometimes he wished Ben were still alive, he had always the better one when it came to giving comfort. He was just a fuck up that spouted whatever came into his head and sometimes it did good, other times it resulted in someone getting insulted. But it was worth a shot.  
  
The car swerved momentarily as Klaus accidentally kicked Diego in the elbow as he pushed his way into the back seat.  
"Jesus! Klaus, I'm driving!"  
  
"My bad!" Klaus said. He landed awkwardly in the backseat. "Didn't mean to do that!"  
"Five?" No answer. Five continued to stare out the windshield. From where Klaus sat, he saw his brother's eyes brimming with tears, nearly overflowing and Klaus wondered what exactly Five was reliving right now.  
  
"Five, you're okay." He grabbed one of his brother's wrists and pulled his hand away from his ear. Klaus slid over and pulled Five's other hand away from his other ear. There was still no reaction from the smaller boy.  Klaus advanced with the physical affection and wrapped his brother into a hug. Five flinched under the affectionate touch but did not pull away. Klaus sighed, pleased that his brother hadn't rejected his touch.  
  
He started to rub slow circles on Five's back, hoping that they were reassuring in nature. Klaus hadn't had a panic attack in awhile, and although Ben had always been there to help him see it through, no one else had really comforted him during his episodes. So he wasn't sure if Ben's advice or his own comforting techniques would be all that helpful to anyone, let alone Five. He took note of how Five's breathing seemed ragged, as though it were difficult to get in a full breath. He glanced at Ben, who had since apparated into the front seat.  
  
"Is that normal?" he asked. "He's breathing funny."   
"It's normal, for people to feel like they can't breath," Ben said. "You need to get him to focus on something in the present. He's probably stuck in that apocalyptic hell."  
"Diego, we should pull over."

* * *

The fire and smoke was suffocating, he couldn't breathe. Every breath he took felt as though he was setting his lungs on fire, they burnt horribly. The mantra in his head had changed from _It's not real_ , to _Make it stop, I need air_.  
"Five." That voice, it sounded familiar. Where was it coming from?   
  
"Five, buddy..."  
Warmth. Was someone touching his face?  
  
"You're okay, Five. You're safe."

It was as though someone had snapped their fingers and awoken him from a trance. Five blinked and the world came back to him, it literally felt like a slap to the face. The three (four if Ben was included) of them were outside some 24 hour diner, the two of them crouched in front of him, worry clearly etched onto their faces. He glanced around, confused as to how he gotten here, before he felt a twinge of annoyance at the way his siblings stared at him.  
  
"Are you okay, buddy?" Klaus asked, placing a hand on his knee. He shook his brother's hand off.  
  
"I'm fine," he said, although the slight tremble in his voice said otherwise.  
  
"You sure don't sound fine." Klaus said.  
  
"We know you're not fine, Five." Diego said. He sounded angry, although he tended to be rather intense, so perhaps it was concern. "You stole a mannequin from a department store while getting shot at and then had a panic attack or a flashback while we drove here. Tell us what's wrong, we can help you." Klaus nodded enthusiastically in agreement, a weak smile on his face.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," Five muttered, his eyes averted from either brother. Diego met Klaus' eyes, who just shrugged in response. Klaus got to his feet and sat down on the bench next to Five.  
  
"Fine, we don't have to talk. We'll just sit." Diego copied him and sat down on the other side of Five. The three of them sat there for an awfully long time, and Five surprised himself that he didn't take this opportunity and blink out to wherever. However, he still wondered if his powers were depleted like they'd been back in the department store.  
  
He knew would probably regret this later, but he was just so damn tired. The adrenaline rush that he'd gotten as he had been chased around and shot at by two masked hooligans had since died and the flashbacks he had had were starting to take a toll on him too. And when he thought on it, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept and the more he thought about it the more tired he felt. Since the moment he had dropped into 2019, he had constantly been on the move, doing his best to prevent the apocalypse.  
  
And unfortunately, he'd been dealt a bad hand, what with being stuck in the body of a thirteen year old, something that he hadn't been in years, as well as having no crystal clear way on how to prevent the end of the world since time travel was a crap shoot and whatever time shenanigans he managed there was still the possibility that all his efforts would have been for nothing. He yawned and leaned back against the bench, his head starting to loll. Eventually, his head settled on Klaus' shoulder. He'd probably regret this when he woke up. 

* * *

  
"Should we go?" Diego asked. "I mean...he's asleep. We should take him home."  
  
"Can we get something to eat first?" Klaus asked. "I'm starving!" Diego rolled his eyes but got up from his seat and made his way into the diner. Hopefully, they had take out. He waited in line for a few minutes before he returned with some horrendously large breakfast sandwich for Klaus and nothing for himself. While Klaus ate and Five slept, Diego people watched those that bustled in and out of them diner. A group of women had just come out from the diner and were bidding one another goodnight when Diego saw one woman break away from her gaggle of friends and started to approach them. She smiled brightly when she caught Diego's eye.  
  
"Excuse me," she said, politely, "I noticed you guys inside the diner and I was wondering would you mind  if I take a picture of you two and your son? I'm a photography student at the university and my portfolio is focused on families that come in all sizes, ethnicities and sexualities among other things."  
  
"Uh..." Diego glanced at Klaus, who's mouth was still stuffed with sandwich. They looked at one another, unsure of how to reply. Klaus hastily swallowed the bite of sandwich in his mouth. "....Sure?" Klaus said, the word ended up like a question.  
  
"Did you want us to wake him?" Diego asked, gesturing to Five, who's head still rested on Klaus' shoulder. The woman shook her head.  
  
"No, leave him be," she said softly, "He's adorable like that." The two of them posed awkwardly as the women snapped several shots of them. She showed them the pictures and thanked them.  
"I can send them to you, if you want." she offered. To be good natured, Diego gave her his email so she could send the photos to him, although he didn't care either way whether he got them or not. 

After Klaus had finally finished his sandwich, they decided to head back toward the academy so they could put their brother in a proper bed as well as get some shut eye themselves. Diego lifted Five into his arms, careful not to wake him, while Klaus walked ahead and opened up the rear passenger door. The drive back to the academy was quiet; Ben had suggested that they keep it that way lest they have a very grumpy young-old man at their throats. And luckily enough, they didn't run into any of their other siblings as they carried Five up to his room.

"You know.... with the time travel to the apocalypse and all...That's really messed with him." Diego said. He pulled Five's shoes off and pulled back the covers before he slid the boy under the covers. "I want to help him, but he's just so  _stubborn_ sometimes...."  
  
"But he looks adorable sleeping, doesn't he?" Klaus said. Diego chuckled lightly and elbowed Klaus humorously.  
  
"Don't let him hear you call him that. He might want to tear you throat out."

* * *

Five woke and found himself in his bed. He stifled a groan. The softness of the bed felt so unfamiliar after decades of sleeping against walls and on floors made of different materials and littered with debris. Sure, if he gave it enough time he might become more acquainted with the soft, downy feel of the sheets and pillows, but until then he thought that sleeping on the floor, or perhaps a hard chair might be better.

He got out of bed and headed to the wardrobe to get dressed. As he dress, he thought to last night, and groaned again. At the time, he knew he was going to fall asleep and he hadn't fought his weak thirteen year old body on it, but he still felt embarrassed that he'd fallen asleep like that in front of his brothers. He could just imagine them carrying him home and putting him to bed like a small child.

There was a knock on door, that was slightly open, and Klaus poked his head into the room. Upon seeing Five awake, he smiled.  
  
"Guten morgen!" Klaus exclaimed. He edged his way into the room, two cups of coffee in hand. "I bring caffeine!" He offered one out to Five, who took it without hesitation.  
  
"...Thanks." 

Klaus sprawled across Five's bed, propped up on an elbow while he drank from his cup of coffee. Five felt his brother's eyes on him and it was starting to make his skin crawl. Had he been more alert and in a more snappy mood, he might've  shoved Klaus off the bed, hot coffee in hand or not.

"You know we're here for you, right?" Klaus said. "Me, Diego, Allison...all of us. That includes Ben too. We can see that living in the apocalypse for so long screwed with your head. You don't have to go through that torment alone." Five hummed, acknowledging Klaus' words. He wanted to say something, but with the sudden lump in his throat, he didn't want to speak. He wasn't even sure what he'd say; feelings were something he'd never learned to express properly.

After Five had drained the mug of coffee, he had gotten up to get more, and upon Klaus' request, walked downstairs to the kitchen with his brother. Diego was the only one in there, his eyes focused on some papers he had in hand.

"Morning," Diego said. He glanced up at the papers he was looking at. He smirked slightly as Five entered the room and bee lined towards the coffee pot for a refill. Klaus stopped to take a peek at what Diego was looking at.   
  
"Was ist das?" he asked, placing his coffee mug down on the kitchen table. Diego slid the paper over so Klaus got a better look. Klaus smiled as he realized it was the pictures that the nice university student had taken of them. Ben peeked over Klaus shoulder to get a better look.

"Aww, that's too cute! You need to frame those," Ben said. "Too bad I'm not in them, I'm real photogenic." Klaus smiled and turned around so the light hit the photos better.

Five stared at what Klaus was looking at before he suddenly snatched the paper out of his hands. He glared at it and Klaus watched as his brother's frown deepened and his hand holding the coffee mug clenched tighter around the handle. 

"Where the hell did these pictures come from?!"

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought! Comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated! Also, sorry for any typos and for straying away from the canon plotline.


End file.
